Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Short Variation
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3
The Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Short Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B12, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3. It is a line of the Caro-Kann Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 18,659 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4… e6 (84% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.15 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 4… e6 5. c3 c5 6. Be2 Nc6 7. O-O)
- ECO
- B12
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rn1qkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/3pPb2/3P4/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 8,117 | |
| 1500-1999 | 8,725 | |
| 2000+ | 1,817 | |
| All | 18,659 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… e6 | 15,765 (84%) | |
| 4… h6 | 927 (5%) | |
| 4… c5 | 560 (3%) | |
| 4… Bg4 | 436 (2%) | |
| 4… Nd7 | 348 (2%) | |
| 4… f6 | 218 (1%) | |
| 4… Qb6 | 78 (0%) | |
| 4… h5 | 77 (0%) |
Master games
12,770 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 22%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- Komodo 2551.00 (3743) – AllieStein v0.7_dev-net_14.3 (3761) 1-0 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-14
- AllieStein v0.7_dev-net_14.3 (3761) – Komodo 2551.00 (3743) 1-0 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-10
- Ethereal 12.19 (3708) – AllieStein v0.7_dev-net_14.3 (3761) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-05-29
- AllieStein v0.7_dev-net_14.3 (3761) – Ethereal 12.19 (3708) 1-0 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-05-25
- Reckless 0.9.0-dev-b32e0895 (3741) – Berserk 20250622 (3667) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-11
Search all games of the Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Short Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM wLh26 (2831) – GM athena-pallada (2885) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- FastMonkey456 (2740) – IM Kostik_Mostik (2898) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- LY0329 (2793) – AlwaysLookingForMore (2704) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5
More Caro-Kann Defense lines (all)
- Caro-Kann Defense (1. e4 c6) B10
- Caro-Kann Defense (1… c6 2. Nc3) B10
- Caro-Kann Defense (2. Nc3 d5) B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack (1… c6 2. c4) B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack (2. c4 d5) B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack, Modern Variation B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack, Open Variation B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack, Pseudo-Scandinavian B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack, Van Weersel Attack B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Apocalypse Attack B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Breyer Variation B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Breyer Variation, Stein Attack B10
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.